Landfall is ending its 19-year relationship with the Maplewood Police Department, a relationship damaged by accusations of racial profiling and slow response times.

In 2013, the 700-population mobile-home community will receive police services from the Washington County sheriff's department.

Mayor-elect Jim Dumer said the Landfall City Council voted to pay the sheriff's office $117,000 a year, compared with the $120,000 it was paying Maplewood.

Dumer, who was elected mayor in November and takes over Jan. 7, applauded the move. He said the contract will save money for Landfall, and he expects service will be better.

The switch will end a longtime relationship with Maplewood, which suddenly went sour in May.

That was when the city council voted to end the contract with Maplewood for police services. Mayor Greg Feldbrugge said at the time that the move was necessary to save money and improve response times.

But in June, he raised new charges against the department -- including racial profiling.

Maplewood officials said they had received no complaints of racial profiling or slow response times, and no evidence was ever presented to support the charges.

"This was a bit of a slap in the face for us," said acting Maplewood Police Chief Dave Kvam.

The accusations generated ill will between the two cities, said Dumer.

"There was a lot of damage done," the mayor-elect said.

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The argument over police services was one of several signs of turmoil in Landfall, which reached a climax in August with the sudden firing of the city attorney and the manager of the mobile home park.

Charges of mismanagement were so severe that the county took over control of the mobile home park in October. Dumer campaigned -- and won -- on a platform of reform.

Dumer said that at the Dec. 10 Maplewood City Council meeting, a Landfall City Council member "read a resolution basically apologizing for all the nonsense that was going on."

Kvam said Maplewood probably would have charged Landfall a higher rate for police services in 2013. He said that rate would have been about $147,000, assuming that Landfall residents would be charged the same per-capita rate as Maplewood residents.

That would have been a jump from the $120,000 Landfall is paying Maplewood for services in 2012.

Kvam said Landfall's switch to the county could be made quickly, but officials want to coordinate police and fire services -- and Landfall hasn't yet made arrangements for other fire services. Dumer said the change-over might not happen until March.

"Had this not come up from (Landfall mayor) Feldbrugge, there was no plan on our part to encourage them to seek services elsewhere," Kvam said. "This would not have happened but for his efforts."

Washington County Sheriff Bill Hutton said the department will add an officer to cover Landfall.

Hutton said one employee will be freed by an expiring contract in Mahtomedi -- allowing the department to cover Landfall without adding to the total number of employees.

The new officer will cover Landfall and also help improve coverage in Lake Elmo. "It's a win for Lake Elmo, the city of Landfall and the sheriff's office," Hutton said.

Hutton said Landfall will be the 14th city in the county getting police services from his office.

Dumer said relations with the Maplewood police were cordial, with officials agreeing to extend services until the sheriff's department could step in.

"We worked out a deal. They said they would not leave us hanging," said Dumer. "Maplewood agreed to carry us month by month."

Dumer said that the settling of the police contract was a sign that Landfall was rebounding after a difficult year.